Every two years, Golf Digest and Golf Magazine issue widely read and debated rankings of the nation’s best golf courses. Ranking golf courses, like ranking colleges, is both a fool’s errand and a natural instinct. Golfers can’t help but compare and contrast the courses they have played, and those comparisons can be quantified and arranged. The resulting ranking has no bearing on how much a player enjoys a round of golf but can be a major feather in the cap for courses across the country.

The project of ranking American golf courses has been a decades-long undertaking - Golf Digest started releasing rankings from #1 to #100 in 1985, while Golf Magazine followed suit in 1991. (Before 1985, Golf Digest grouped courses into First 10, Second 10, Third 10, Fourth 10, Fifth 10, and Second 50, a format which makes more sense but doesn’t sell as many magazines.)

This is an extremely rich set of data, but until now there hasn’t been a practical way to explore it visually or temporally. The two magazines do not make their historical data easily available and tend to make comparisons only between the current and previous issues. Visualizations that allow for tracking trends over time allow the observer to answer a number of interesting questions about how opinions have changed over the past three decades. Which courses and schools of design have staying power? What are some architectural trends that have come and gone? Which designers have trended up or trended down? Are there any interesting geographical patterns? What kind of differences are there between the two magazines’ rating systems?

Typos and incorrect information are almost assured; indeed, there is sometimes conflicting or missing information even within the same magazine issue. Please feel free to send over corrections, fixes and suggestions to .


The blue bloods (click the title to view individual charts)

Course Location Year Designed Golf Digest Golf Magazine Average
Pine Valley Pine Valley, NJ 1918 1 1 1
Augusta National Augusta, GA 1933 2 3 2.5
Cypress Point Pebble Beach, CA 1928 3 2 2.5
Shinnecock Hills Southampton, NY 1931 4 4 4
Oakmont Oakmont, PA 1903 5 6 5.5
Merion Ardmore, PA 1912 6 8 7
Pebble Beach Pebble Beach, CA 1919 7 7 7

In both publications, the top 10 is rarefied air that has been occupied almost exclusively by a small number of classic courses built during golf’s “golden age” of design:

Golf Magazine has been especially stable (ossified?) at the top - Pine Valley and Cypress Point have been ranked #1 and #2, respectively, in every Golf Magazine list since its first publication in 1991.

With the exception of Pebble Beach, membership rolls at these courses are populated by captains of industry and it is nearly impossible for the average golfer to get on for a round. Two of them are not tournament-ready - Pine Valley has never hosted professional events while Cypress Point pulled out of the Bing Crosby Clambake more than 30 years ago and plays to 6524 yards from the tips - but the rest are current and former hosts of some of the most prominent professional and amateur competitions.

Despite universally acclaimed designs and decades of tournament experience, among the other five courses only Oakmont has managed to keep up with modern ball and club technology. Merion’s 2013 US Open setup received mixed reviews and the club may have to wait until 2030 for a return visit; Shinnecock Hills has been the site of two consecutive USGA PR catastrophes; and last year’s US Open at Pebble Beach saw players hitting hitting the 6th hole in two with a 3 wood and a mid-iron.

Even Augusta National, which has unlimited resources and only a few months of on-course play each year, is struggling to maintain shot values. In a borderline heretical move, Golf Magazine put Augusta National on notice with a column disparaging the club’s recent design changes. Is Augusta’s perennial top 5 streak about to end? What does it mean for the game of golf if technological changes make the world’s best courses obsolete for PGA Tour pros?


The new (and newly revitalized) blue bloods

Course Location Year Designed Golf Digest Golf Magazine Average
National Golf Links Southampton, NY 1911 8 5 6.5
Sand Hills Mullen, NE 1995 9 9 9
Fishers Island Fishers Island, NY 1926 10 11 10.5

Like high society in real life, entry into the top echelons from the outside is rare but not impossible. Three courses have made a move into the top 10, two by staging comebacks and the other by single-handedly changing the course of golf course architecture in the new millennium. C.B. Macdonald’s National Golf Links of America was once ranked #56 by Golf Digest and #26 by Golf Magazine but has vauled up to #5 and #8, respectively, while Fishers Island, currently #10 and #11, was out of the top 100 altogether in Golf Digest as recently as 1999.

At #9 in both publications, Sand Hills’ standing is perhaps the most remarkable on the entire list. The influential 1995 Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw design is more than 60 years newer than the second-youngest top 10 course (Augusta National, 1933) and it is the only top 10 course located between Oakmont on the east and Monterey on the west.


If this is the B-list, it’s quite the B-list

Course Location Year Designed Golf Digest Golf Magazine Average
Seminole Juno Beach, FL 1929 12 14 13
Crystal Downs Frankfort, MI 1931 13 15 14
Winged Foot (West) Mamaroneck, NY 1923 11 18 14.5
Friar’s Head Baiting Hollow, NY 2002 15 21 18
The Country Club Chestnut Hill, MA 1895 18 22 20
Riviera Pacific Palisades, CA 1926 23 20 21.5
Oakland Hills Bloomfield Hills, MI 1918 20 24 22
Prairie Dunes Hutchinson, KS 1937 27 19 23
San Francisco San Francisco, CA 1924 35 16 25.5

The courses in this group have been mainstays in in the top 20 - though generally not the top 10 - in at least one of the two rankings. Again, we see a split between major championship venues and clubs that have shunned the inconvenience and attention that come with hosting tournaments. We can also divide this group between the first three, which are consensus top 20 courses, and the rest, which are outside the top 20 in one of the two publications.

Not long ago, the West course at Winged Foot would have qualified for the “blue blood” set, but the legendary US Open venue has fallen out of the top 10 in both magazines. Comments by Golf Digest raters, some of whom call it “less interesting” than the club’s East Course and situated on a property that is “downright ordinary with little topographical character,” are surprisingly negative for such a highly ranked course. Will a recently completed greens restoration and publicity from hosting the 2020 US Open vault it back into the top 10?

Friar’s Head, another Coore and Crenshaw collaboration, deserves kudos as the only post-World War II course aside from Sand Hills to maintain a position in the top 15 of either ranking.


Trouble in paradise, part 1: upper crust division

Course Location Year Designed Golf Digest Golf Magazine Average
Muirfield Village Dublin, OH 1974 16 29 22.5
Oak Hill Rochester, NY 1925 22 43 32.5
Olympic (Lake) San Francisco, CA 1924 33 33 33
Southern Hills Tulsa, OK 1936 34 34 34
Baltusrol (Lower) Springfield, NJ 1922 41 37 39
The Golf Club New Albany, OH 1967 38 40 39
Medinah (No. 3) Medinah, IL 1928 53 51 52
Scioto Columbus, OH 1916 57 79 68

Of course anyone would love to belong to clubs like these, but the trend lines speak for themselves. Board members at these courses are faced with some tough questions to answer. What’s causing the slide? If a problem can be identified, is it fixable, and if so, for how much money and time? Should members care? It’s easy to say they shouldn’t, but it’s a tough pill to swallow (and bad for business) when your course drops 20, 30, or more places in the rankings table.

Muirfield Village is by far the highest-rated course in this group but Jack Nicklaus himself believes there is work to be done - the club announced a two-year renovation with the goal of maintaining Nicklaus’ “old-fashioned beliefs” about golf course design while protecting par against PGA Tour players. As Augusta National has found, easier said than done.

The Olympic Club recently defected from the USGA to the PGA of America, the highest profile example yet of old-line clubs crying uncle on the USGA’s tournament management. The controversial 1998 US Open setup appears to have led directly to a drop in the Lake Course’s reputation and new bunkers installed by the USGA ahead of the 2012 US Open remain detested by many members. Perhaps a more permissive setup that allows for a PGA Championship and Ryder Cup where the players, not the course, are the story will allow the hillside club to restore its position near the top of the rankings.

All the while, ghosts of magazines past are lurking:

Wannamoisett might be the ultimate cautionary tale. In 2001, it was ranked #35 by Golf Digest and #64 by Golf Magazine. In the span of only six years, it fell out of both rankings completely and hasn’t been seen in the top 100 since.


Returning to glory

Course Location Year Designed Golf Digest Golf Magazine Average
Chicago Wheaton, IL 1894 14 12 13
Los Angeles (North) Los Angeles, CA 1921 19 13 16

In comparison with the long list of classic courses have been muscled out of the top third of the charts, two lucky clubs have been rewarded for renovation work by trendy architects and publicity bumps after hosting major amateur and professional events. This list of comeback kids is not a long one even if you add National and Fishers Island, the only other pre-war venues that have managed to make moves into the upper tier.


A few merely fantastic courses that you also won’t be able to get on (old school)

Course Location Year Designed Golf Digest Golf Magazine Average
Camargo Indian Hill, OH 1927 44 31 37.5
Garden City Garden City, NY 1899 51 26 38.5
Peachtree Atlanta, GA 1947 30 49 39.5
Winged Foot (East) Mamaroneck, NY 1923 52 41 46.5
Somerset Hills Bernardsville, NJ 1918 63 38 50.5
Maidstone East Hampton, NY 1924 67 35 51
Quaker Ridge Scarsdale, NY 1918 71 39 55
Inverness Toledo, OH 1919 88 44 66
Interlachen Edina, MN 1911 58 75 66.5
Myopia Hunt South Hamilton, MA 1898 76 63 69.5
Plainfield Edison, NJ 1921 82 60 71
Baltusrol (Upper) Springfield, NJ 1922 61 83 72
Kittansett Marion, MA 1922 78 66 72

These highly rated private clubs, all but one east of the Mississippi River (and Interlachen only barely west of it), tend to have relatively stable ratings in the 40-80 range. All of them were designed in the 1920s and earlier except Peachtree, which earns honorary “golden age” status from its Bobby Jones connection.


A few merely fantastic courses that you also won’t be able to get on (new school)

Course Location Year Designed Golf Digest Golf Magazine Average
Ballyneal Holyoke, CO 2006 46 42 44
Honors Course Ooltewah, TN 1983 28 78 53
Old Sandwich Plymouth, MA 2005 59 50 54.5
Sebonack Southampton, NY 2006 39 76 57.5
Monterey Peninsula (Shore) Pebble Beach, CA 2004 56 67 61.5
Calusa Pines Naples, FL 2001 83 91 87
Boston Hingham, MA 2004 87 88 87.5
Rock Creek Cattle Deer Lodge, MT 2008 - 65 -

I’m accepting invitations…


The cheapest dates on the list

Course Location Year Designed Golf Digest Golf Magazine Average
Pacific Dunes Bandon, OR 2001 17 17 17
Pinehurst (No. 2) Pinehurst, NC 1935 29 10 19.5
Kiawah Island (Ocean) Kiawah Island, SC 1991 24 25 24.5
Bethpage (Black) Farmingdale, NY 1936 37 23 30
Bandon Dunes Bandon, OR 1999 36 32 34
TPC Sawgrass Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 1980 49 30 39.5
Spyglass Hill Pebble Beach, CA 1966 45 54 49.5
Old Macdonald Bandon, OR 2010 50 57 53.5
Bandon Trails Bandon, OR 2005 69 46 57.5
Erin Hills Erin, WI 2006 42 74 58
Streamsong (Red) Streamsong, FL 2012 - 47 -
Sand Valley Nekoosa, WI 2017 - 52 -
Pasatiempo Santa Cruz, CA 1929 - 53 -
Streamsong (Blue) Streamsong, FL 2012 - 64 -
Torrey Pines (South) La Jolla, CA 1957 - 87 -
Chambers Bay University Place, WA 2007 - 98 -

Good news, comrades! Not all of the top 100 is stacked with stuffy, expensive private clubs - there are also some stuffy, expensive public courses as well. But remember, $400 for a round of golf is a hell of a lot less expensive than $100,000 for initiation fees.

The Bandon group is obviously the #1 target here, but after that I would set up shop at Bethpage, the unholy union of Pine Valley and the DMV.

Worth noting is the Ocean Course’s circuitous route to its position near the top of the charts. The diabolical Dye track had Uber-esque post-IPO drops in both magazines that threatened to boot it out of the top 100 altogether, but in the early 2000s each publication moved in tandem to solidify the course’s status in the top 25.

Also noteworthy is the precipitous drop of Pinehurst No. 2 in Golf Digest’s list after its extreme makeover by Coore and Crenshaw. Golf Digest raters must not like the color brown.

Every public course ranked by Golf Digest is ranked by Golf Magazine but not vice versa. It’s one thing to sniff your nose at Streamsong or Torrey Pines, but Pasatiempo?


Tom Fazio’s checks to the Golf Magazine raters apparently didn’t clear

Course Location Year Designed Golf Digest Golf Magazine Average
Wade Hampton Cashiers, NC 1987 25 58 41.5
Shadow Creek North Las Vegas, NV 1990 26 61 43.5
Gozzer Ranch Harrison, ID 2007 32 95 63.5
Alotian Roland, AK 2004 31 - -
Victoria National Newburgh, IN 1998 43 - -
Butler National Oak Brook, IL 1974 47 - -
Dallas National Dallas, TX 2002 65 - -
Estancia Scottsdale, AZ 1995 70 - -
Quarry at La Quinta La Quinta, CA 1994 77 - -
Hudson National Croton-on-Hudson, NY 1996 81 - -
Diamond Creek Banner Elk, NC 2003 90 - -
Spring Hill Wayzata, MN 1999 93 - -
Preserve Carmel, CA 2000 96 - -

The Tom Fazio aesthetic represents the clearest difference between the two magazines. There are six Fazio courses in the top 50 of Golf Digest’s rankings and a big fat zero in Golf Magazine’s. Alotian was once #14 in Golf Digest (now #31) and is unranked in Golf Magazine, with Gozzer Ranch about to meet a similar fate.

It’s easy to joke about this situation, but one positive effect of the Golf Digest love for Fazio is to add some geographic diversity to the rankings. Places like western North Carolina, Arkansas, Idaho, Arizona, and Palm Springs weren’t lucky enough to get golden age courses and are thus largely locked out of the Golf Magazine list.


A few more lush, luxurious tracks that Golf Digest loves and Golf Magazine doesn’t (non-Fazio edition)

Course Location Year Designed Golf Digest Golf Magazine Average
Pikewood National Morgantown, WV 2009 40 - -
Castle Pines Castle Rock, CO 1981 48 - -
Whispering Pines Trinity, TX 2000 54 - -
Canyata Marshall, IL 2004 62 - -
Pete Dye Bridgeport, WV 1994 64 - -
Kinloch Manakin-Sabot, VA 2001 66 - -
Valhalla Louisville, KY 1986 84 - -
Mayacama Santa Rosa, CA 2001 100 - -

Some of these could also be placed in the “trouble in paradise” category…


Some ancient clubs that Golf Magazine loves and Golf Digest doesn’t

Course Location Year Designed Golf Digest Golf Magazine Average
Yeamans Hall Charleston, SC 1926 95 56 75.5
Cal Club South San Francisco, CA 1926 - 36 -
Yale New Haven, CT 1923 - 55 -
Eastward Ho Chatham, MA 1922 - 62 -
Piping Rock Locust Valley, NY 1913 - 69 -
East Lake Atlanta, GA 1915 - 70 -
Newport Newport, RI 1899 - 71 -
Baltimore Lutherville, MD 1926 - 72 -
Bel-Air Los Angeles, CA 1926 - 80 -

I haven’t played most of these courses, but the prospect of a post-round beer in a club room lined with wood paneling and priceless memorabilia makes them much more appealing than most all of the Fazio/Nicklaus/Dye Golf Digest set.


Back in vogue, for now at least

Course Location Year Designed Golf Digest Golf Magazine Average
Essex County Manchester, MA 1917 73 82 77.5
Old Town Winston-Salem, NC 1939 98 59 78.5
Monterey Peninsula (Dunes) Pebble Beach, CA 1924 79 94 86.5
Sleepy Hollow Briarcliff Manor, NY 1915 89 96 92.5
Fox Chapel Pittsburgh, PA 1926 - 81 -
Philadelphia Cricket Flourtown, PA 1922 - 86 -
Moraine Dayton, OH 1930 - 89 -

These classic courses have recently returned to the rankings; time will tell whether they have staying power.


Trouble in paradise, part 2: catch the falling knife

Course Location Year Designed Golf Digest Golf Magazine Average
Cherry Hills Cherry Hills Village, CO 1923 72 73 72.5
Congressional Bethesda, MD 1962 80 77 78.5
Milwaukee River Hills, WI 1929 74 84 79
Blackwolf Run Kohler, WI 1990 97 100 98.5
Olympia Fields (North) Olympia Fields, IL 1922 75 - -
Colonial Fort Worth, TX 1936 - 92 -
Double Eagle Galena, OH 1992 92 - -
Hazeltine National Chaska, MN 1962 - 93 -
Crooked Stick Carmel, IN 1967 99 - -

With the fierce competition in the golf course market, declining demand for country club memberships, and unpredictable, shifting architectural tastes across a variety of different constituencies, efforts to stay in the Top 100 will be expensive - and might not even work. Good luck!

Looking at this group of courses along with the previous Trouble in Paradise map, there is obviously something going on in the Midwest. Has the population of raters become more urban and coastal?


Hanging on by a thread

Course Location Year Designed Golf Digest Golf Magazine Average
Aronimink Newtown Square, PA 1928 85 97 91
Ridgewood Paramus, NJ 1929 - 85 -
The Creek Club Locust Valley, NY 1923 - 90 -
Rich Harvest Sugar Grove, IL 1999 94 - -
Mountain Lake Lake Wales, FL 1921 - 99 -
Mayacama Santa Rosa, CA 2001 100 - -


Pouring one out for the recently and dearly departed

Course Location Year Designed Golf Digest Golf Magazine Average
Trump Bedminster (Old) Bedminster, NJ 2004 - - -
Doral (Blue Monster) Doral, FL 1961 - - -
Laurel Valley Ligonier, PA 1959 - - -
Bellerive St. Louis, MO 1960 - - -
Fairfield Fairfield, CT 1921 - - -
Flint Hills National Andover, KS 1997 - - -
Sahalee Sammamish, WA 1969 - - -
Eagle Point Wilmington, NC 2000 - - -

I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that the two remaining ranked Trump courses dropped out after 2016.